Sydney, July 28, 2008. Among the nearly 250,000 youth who
participated in World Youth Day with Pope Benedict XVI in
Sydney were hundreds of Regnum Christi members from 14 countries:
Australia, New Zealand, U.S., Canada, Mexico, Nicaragua, Colombia, Brazil, Chile,
Burkina Faso, the Philippines, Germany, Spain, and France.

When the Holy Father went by boat to the bay,
one of the boats following him was full of Regnum
Christi youth and other invitees. Various Legionaries of Christ accompanied
the groups from various countries and helped with confessions.

Preparing for World Youth Day

Regnum
Christi members from Oceania have been involved in various activities
preparing and promoting the event for months. Just prior
to World Youth Day, they organized their first Youth
and Family Encounter in the Intercontinental Hotel of Sydney from
July 13-14. The theme was “Witnesses… until the ends of
the earth!” There are currently 200 Regnum Christi members in
Australia and New Zealand.

The speakers at the
YFE included Fr John Flynn, LC, who writes for ZENIT and who spoke on the challenge of being a
witness of faith in today’s world; Fr Anthony Bannon, LC,

Fr Rodrigo Hurtado, LC, with one of the participants.

who was present for the first steps of the foundation
in Australia; Jonathan and Karen Doyle, Catholic educators who live
in Canberra and who work in Choicez Media, a widespread
sexual education program based on human values; and Chris Meney,
director of the Office for Marriage and Family in the
Archdiocese of Sydney. The Encounter also included a rally for
youth and a bioethics seminar.

Daniel diSilva, from
the Catholic music group Crispin, of the States, and the
Australian singer Gary Pinto, who wrote the official anthem of
the World Youth Day (“Receive the Power”) gave a
concert during the Encounter.

Conventions and Missions

Before the YFE and World Youth Day, Regnum Christi
members had also organized two conventions, missions, and a youth
rally.

For the missions, a total of
34 Regnum Christi young women from France, Mexico, the US,
and Canada hit the streets of Sydney to promote World
Youth Day. They collected prayer intentions and invited people to
come back to the sacraments and attend the closing Mass
with the Holy Father at Randwick Racecourse. They also helped
pack 36,000 lunches for the closing Mass, did a “scavangelizer”

Some Regnum Christi members from various countries with Fathers Rodrigo Hurtado and Dominic Pham, LC.

(a scavenger hunt with evangelization opportunities) in downtown Sydney, and
passed out pamphlets for the Friday Stations of the Cross.

The lives of the young missionaries were also
changed by the mission.

“Christ really touched my heart,” said
Mary Linz, who attended the missions. “I have been giving so
many excuses and he broke down my barriers.”

Peter Fagan, a
participant from Denver, said: “The energy with which the youth
of the world conquered Sydney was contagious. It’s never been
so easy to share Christ with the people who need
him. After these two weeks of joy and reflection, I’ve
regained the interior peace of God’s grace that I had
lost. I truly feel that my faith is my life
and that my relationship with God is above everything else.”